Jan 9, 2013

Winter melon is such a versatile ingredient that can be used in both savory and sweet recipes. In Taiwan, winter melon can also be preserved using fermented rice and other seasonings such as salt and rice wine. Usually people use pickled winter melon in ground pork or steam fish recipes. I'll share my mom's stewed pork balls with pickled winter melon when she makes it. As for now, let's try my recipe for omelet with Taiwanese style pickled winter melon -

How?Gently rinse the pickled winter melon to remove any small rice bits and dilute the saltiness a little bit. Dry well and finely chop the melon till it looks almost like a paste.Break 6 eggs. Add the pickled winter melon, soy sauce, and water. Beat well, about one minute.Take a medium sized and round shaped pan. Drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and turn to medium high heat. Evenly coat the bottom of the pan with oil and pour in the egg mixture. Slowly stir the center to let the mixture cook evenly. Use a spatula to gently separate the edges of the eggs away from the pan once a while. Stop stirring the center after about 10 seconds, or till you feel the eggs start to firm up. Just leave the mixture and wait till the bottom gets a nice brown color, should be around 1 to 2 minutes. Carefully flip the eggs. You can turn the whole pan onto a big round plate so the eggs fall onto the plate perfectly without breaking apart. Carefully push the round shaped eggs back to the pan to cook the other side till brownish color.Once one, turn the whole pan onto a big plate again.

Sprinkle some dried seaweed flakes and toasted white sesame seeds all over the top. Serve with Sriracha sauce.

You can also chop up some scallion and add to the egg mixture. In that case, omit the dried seaweed flakes and use only the sesame seeds as garnish. I suppose some chopped cilantro will also be a good flavor kick for this recipe.